


Uneven Odds

by sp00nz



Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: DadSchlatt AU, Family Dynamics, Found Family, Gen, Phil is a good father figure for once, Tubbo is sad, based off of a song, sbi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-18 22:08:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29616147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sp00nz/pseuds/sp00nz
Summary: nobody had told tubbo that schlatt was his father. not even his guardian, philza. after the death of the late president, phil confessed the truth, and gave tubbo a letter that would reveal his own past.(based off of a song called ‘Uneven Odds’ by Sleeping at Last!)
Relationships: Jschlatt & Toby Smith | Tubbo, Toby Smith | Tubbo & TommyInnit, Toby Smith | Tubbo & Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit & Phil Watson, Wilbur Soot & Technoblade & TommyInnit & Phil Watson
Comments: 3
Kudos: 75





	Uneven Odds

**Author's Note:**

> this will be set as tubbo became president, but in an alternate universe where the sbi exist and don’t low-key hate each other. 
> 
> i had some really cool discord friends give me inspiration for this, so kudos to them! hope you enjoy!

it wasn’t unusual for tommy to tease tubbo about being found in a box. tubbo never minded the constant joke, letting techno and wilbur join in as well. phil would make attempts to stop the boys from making tubbo feel uneasy about his uncertain past, but tubbo reassured phil that it was okay.

it was okay, since joking around and laughing made tubbo feel like he had a real family. sure, maybe he was abandoned and left on the side of the road (according to tommy), but that didn’t matter. he was okay, he had a home.

and although he would tell himself it was alright, a part of his heart longed for the knowledge of who his parents were. he was never given a description, nor their names, and was only left with the simple phrase, “your father had given you up.” 

oh, the nights tubbo would stay awake trying to dream of his mother’s face. he would stare out the window, dreaming of the stars being her eyes. the cold wind being her addicting laugh, and the warm sun as her gentle touch. 

he imagined his father to be strong, like the mountains near his house. the image of the snow falling being the tears he would cry when he laughed too hard. 

and oh, the mornings where tubbo would wake up to smell of fresh breakfast, and the sounds of tommy and wilbur bickering over the minor inconveniences. he would walk out of his room, watching as technoblade sat across the table, nose deep in a book while drinking a mug of black coffee. wilbur would be helping philza cook, while tommy poked wilbur to the point of the older throwing pancake batter at the blonde. 

that is what family is. laughing with each other, enjoying the simple moments that come along in life. although being annoyed, they found their ways to make up for it, helping each other through the harder parts.

one of the harder parts being wilbur’s death. although now a ghost, nothing could replace the nights where they would sit in the living room, listening to wilbur’s guitar and tommy’s ridiculous lyrics. techno would chime in every now and then, making philza laugh and wheeze at the brother’s songs. 

without wilbur, however, the nights would remain quiet. tommy had no one to argue with, techno had no one to have intellectual conversations with, and philza had no one to initiate music nights with. and tubbo had no one to guide him.

wilbur had been the president of l’manburg, but lost the position to schlatt. tubbo worked for schlatt, and endured the pain of the ram’s abuse.

after schlatt died, wilbur regained his position, and offered it to tommy. but tommy had given it to tubbo, who now stood as the third president of l’manburg. 

being a leader was hard, especially when no one could guide you through it. tubbo wished wilbur was still there, maybe it would’ve made everything easier. 

even with the stresses, tubbo’s birthday was coming up, and tommy was overjoyed. more happy than tubbo, even. 

“tubbo! you’re so old!” tommy laughed, standing in the kitchen with phil. it was only a day before the brunette’s birthday, and he was turning 17 while tommy stayed at 16. 

“you can’t say i’m old when philza is standing next to you!” the other joked, laughing as phil scolded the two. 

“what do you want for your birthday,” philza asked, playfully hitting the back of tommy’s head as the blonde continued to laugh at the age joke. 

“i don’t really need anything,” tubbo responded. it was true, he was doing well on armor and weapons, and nothing seemed appealing to his eyes. 

tommy had stopped laughing by then, turning to the other. “it’s not a need, tubbo! it’s a want! c’mon big man, you have to want something!”

tubbo thought for a few moments. he could enjoy a few golden apples, maybe a new axe? oh, maybe some new netherite boots? no, no that was too much. tubbo shook his head. “no thank you, i’m good! i just want to spend it with you guys!”

phil seemed saddened by that response. tubbo didn’t understand why, maybe he had been so used to getting gifts for his sons. “alright, but do expect something. i’m not going to accept no for an answer.” 

the conversation went on- tommy told stories of past birthdays, laughing at the memory of techno throwing cake at tommy, and wilbur screaming at techno for getting cake everywhere.

it was getting late, and tommy had went into his room to sleep, so had techno. tubbo had assumed phil was also asleep by now, but tubbo couldn’t fall asleep.

a weird feeling arose in his chest. he couldn’t decide if it was excitement, happiness, sadness, even loneliness. he stared out his window from his bed, watching the stars slowly move across the night sky. 

he stayed like that for a while, watching as the moon ended up in the middle of the sky. it was midnight, and the official first minutes of his birthday. 

a sweet smile was painted on his lips. through the wars and suffering he had endured, he somehow made it through, and survived to be 17. a sigh of relief left his mouth as he stood up, stretching out his arms. he grabbed a coat, and slipped on some boots, and climbed out of his window. 

it was something he would do ever so often. he would sneak out, and take a small walk around the woods for an hour or two, thinking to himself. some nights, like tonight, he would go up to the roof and watch the stars. it calmed him down, especially when the air inside of the house got too thick. 

he found his way up the ladder on the side of the house, and laid down on his back, facing the night sky. a low cough caused him to jump up, and he quickly turned to the figure next to him.

“phil! you scared me!” he softly laughed, sitting up and crossing his legs. 

“i didn’t mean to tubbo,” phil also chuckled, sitting down as well next to the boy. “happy birthday.” 

“thank you.”

“do you feel any older?” phil softly asked, knowing the boy felt old for his age. 

“nope. just the same as i always do.” tubbo hears phil respond in a low hum, creating a soft silence around them. 

tubbo shifts awkwardly, staring at the same stars he wishes were his mother’s. maybe he did want something for his birthday, maybe he needed to know where he had come from, and who he was. 

“phil, have you ever had this weird feeling in your heart? like you know who you are, but you don’t. you just want to know something, but you don’t know what it is?”

phil turned to tubbo, slightly shocked by the sudden question. his eyes were wide, with his mouth agape. “where did this come from, tubbo?”

“i just need to know if i’m not the only one.” 

phil slowly nods, chewing at his bottom lip. “well, you aren’t the only one,” he begins, staring past the trees in front of them. “after wilbur’s death, i have only wanted to know where i stood. was i his killer? was i the one who saved his life? i wanted him to no longer suffer, but i can’t live with the fact i took his life.”

“now answer my question, tubbo. where did this come from?” 

“i don’t know who i am,” tubbo responds sadly. “i never have.”

“well, you’re tubbo. you are the president of l’manburg, tommy’s best friend! you were a soldier, and worked as a spy during schlatt’s presidency. that’s who you are.”

tubbo shakes his head. that’s not the response he wanted, and phil could tell. 

“i know what you want for your birthday,” tubbo looks up to philza, watching the older grab an envelope from his pocket. “and i have it.”

phil handed it to tubbo, who fiddled with the old paper in his hands. “what is it?” the brunette asks.

“it’s the answer to your question. it’s who you are.” tubbo’s eyes widen, and his hands raced to open the card. he suddenly stopped, slowly putting down the sheet.

“i want you to tell me,” he says, staring into philza’s eyes. “you’re the only father figure i’ve known, and i trust you to tell me the truth.” 

while phil was surprised, he was also content with telling the story. he turned his entire body to face tubbo’s, and began to tell tubbo the story of how he came to be. 

“that letter is a letter from your father. he gave it to me when i found you, and told me not to give it to you until you turned 18. but i knew you couldn’t wait, so i’m giving it to you know.” 

tubbo turns to look at the envelope. it called for him to open, but he felt guilty since he wasn’t of age yet. it didn’t matter, and phil continued the story. 

“i knew your father well, and i guess well enough for him to trust me with you,” phil used to adventure with tubbo’s father. they had grown close over one expedition, and continued to remain friends afterwards. 

“your mother i didn’t know well, however. i actually never personally met her. but one day, your father had came to me crying when she passed, and asked for resources to raise you. so, i gave him some food, even helped build a new house, but i watched as he fell apart.” 

after the death, tubbo’s father had turn to alcohol to ease the pain. he survived off of a few dollars a day, and could barely keep his sights on his own son. phil explained how he would babysit tubbo when his father would be drunk all throughout the day, and that’s how tubbo and tommy became good friends. 

“it got worse. i guess a part off him was lost and never returned. you were only 5, yet knew how to clean up broken glass properly. you also knew a lot about technology, maybe because you had to distract yourself so much.” 

tubbo stared at the ground as tears began to well up in his eyes. he never new his mother had passed, and hearing about his father’s downward spiral made him regret never hearing about it earlier. 

“he put you in a box, left you with a blanket and a letter, and a note for me on how to take care of you. as your new guardian, i was thankful for getting a good list on how to raise you.”

“what did the list say,” tubbo asks.

“well, he left notes saying to let you adventure outside, since he knew you loved nature. he told me not to let you be alone for too long, because you would cry for hours. he also told me to never tell you about him, since he was so ashamed of himself.” 

“he really loved you,” phil added, listening to tubbo softly breathe. 

“does he still love me? could i meet him one day?” tubbo looked up at philza with glossy eyes. 

“oh, tubbo,” phil sighed with regret. “your father is dead.” 

tubbo inhaled sharply, letting the information bounce off of his skin. tears began to roll down his pale face, and he let the anger fall out. 

“how recent?” tubbo asked sharply.

“tubbo-“

“how recent?!” tubbo asked a little louder.

phil looks down, “about a month.” 

tubbo’s angry eyes shoot up, furious pupils staring straight into philza’s soul. “what? you never told me? why didn’t you tell me?!” he cried, standing up to tower over the blonde. 

phil stood up as well. “i don’t expect you to understand.”

“i could’ve met him! i could’ve known who i was! why?”

“oh tubbo, you did meet him. you did!” 

tubbo stops, turning to the letter on the ground. he slowly bends down and picks it up, holding it in the air. “who is this signed by.”

“you won’t be happy with that answer-“

“who. tell me, phil,” tubbo spat. 

“schlatt.”

tubbo feels as the entire world stops. his breath even freezes, and his hands drop the letter back to the ground. he shakes his head, remembering the things he went through during the schlatt administration. 

“no,” he whispered. “no, you’re lying. you’re lying!”

as tubbo shook, philza placed both of his hands on tubbo’s shoulders. he lets tubbo sink into his grasp and hold onto him, letting the younger cry into his chest. 

“i can’t lie about this. i’m sorry, tubbo. i really am.” 

he lets the other continue to cry as the both sink to the ground on their knees. tubbo sobbed, hyperventilating into the green robe. 

“why did he do it! he was nice to me at first, but then he hurt me, he hurt me!” he choked out. 

“i don’t know, but i wish i did.” phil responds sadly, caressing the brown hair. “he must’ve been excited to see you after all these years, but then he found out you were a spy. he was angry, and he struggled dealing with those things.” 

“yeah, i can tell,” tubbo laughs pitifully. he leans back away from phil, wiping his own tears off of his face with his sleeve. 

“did anyone else know?”

phil nods. “techno, wilbur, and tommy all knew.”

“why didn’t you tell me on the day he died?”

“you were placed into power immediately, even though you are so young. i didn’t want you to fall apart.”

tubbo nods. he understands, sort of. he sits for a few more moments, calming himself down and evening out his breath. 

“i do know you were the light of his life. he tried, he really did try to take care of you. but he told me that it got too much. you are so strong, tubbo. you were given uneven odds and yet you’ve crushed them. i’m proud of you,” philza whispers. tubbo nods.

“thank you,” tubbo responds, standing up and taking the letter. “i need some sleep. goodnight, philza.”

phil nods, letting tubbo walk down the ladder and back through his window. he takes off his coat and his shoes, and sits on his bed, holding the half opened envelope in his hands.

he opens it. finding the messily written paragraphs covering the page. water stains were found in random spots of the paper, tubbo assuming they were tears.

his eyes scan the paper, beginning to tear up as he read the sentimental letter. 

‘dear tubbo,

i wish i could’ve been there for you. i could hurt you, and i’m too ashamed to stay around for much longer. philza will be your father figure now, and i trust he will help make your broken heart live the best life it can. 

you remind me of your mother. your eyes, your laughter, your genius brain. i wish she was still here, and maybe i could’ve been a better dad if she was. 

but she isn’t, and now i have become what i hate. and i’m sure you hate me now, too, since i’m sure phil has told you about me. but that’s okay. i’m proud of you already, and i’m certain i will be proud of you in the years to come. 

i will be returning to you one day. now, i may never tell you that i am your birth father, because i don’t know who i will be by then. i could be a changed man, for the better. but i could also have gotten worse. and i don’t expect you to ever love me again. 

as i write this, you are way too young to understand how i feel, and why i had to do what i did. but by the time you read this, i hope you do. so, for now, i’ll leave you with a final message: 

the darkest moments of our lives are there to show us that light truly exists.

-schlatt.’ 

tubbo now knew his past. did he like it? some parts of him was content with knowing some moments he spent with schlatt weren’t terrible. 

and did tubbo finally find out who he was? yes. he was the president of l’manburg, tommy’s best friend. he was a soldier, working as a spy during the l’manburg war.

and he was schlatt’s son.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! comments are always appreciated! :)


End file.
